


six feet apart and they were gay

by sailortwilightt



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, but i couldn't help it, but they're six feet apart and they are gay, i know it sucks, pandemic au, two bros five feet apart and they're not gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:22:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27680648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sailortwilightt/pseuds/sailortwilightt
Summary: Look at the state of the world and a stupid vine that rings in your head, the boys are in college. And there's a scary virus that has everyone with masks and limited people.That doesn't stop Kuroo from throwing "not parties".And that's where Iwaizumi meets Oikawa Tooru.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou
Comments: 8
Kudos: 46





	six feet apart and they were gay

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't want to throw the boys in a pandemic au, but the title was what made me do it.

Everyone knows of the pandemic that’s going on. Having to social distance, have to keep masks on, minimize social gatherings. 

Iwaizumi Hajime didn’t appreciate the virus, but what he really took advantage of was the minimization of social gatherings. Iwaizumi wasn’t one to gather with others. He just liked to study, work his bartending job, then go home and sleep. The only problem was that the mask hid his constant state of frown and made him more approachable.

And that brought him Kuroo Tetsuro. 

They met on campus. They had an anatomy and physiology class together and they bonded over volleyball, although Iwaizumi barely considered it “bonding”. It was more of a similar interest and Kuroo wouldn’t leave him alone about it. 

Eventually, he got to know all about Kuroo. He’s going into the deep end of microbiology, researching bacterial specimens, leaning more towards medicinal research. He lived in an apartment complex bordering the campus grounds with his boyfriend, Kenma. Kuroo focused solely on his studies and didn’t have a job, which made Iwaizumi question how he managed to pay for his apartment. 

“Oh, Kenma pays for it!” He admits. 

“And you just leech off of him?” Iwaizumi asks. 

“I don’t leech off of him. We came to this agreement. Kenma is this big-time video game streamer and he has a lot of subscribers. With that and people who just donate money to him, he manages to pay for everything. Once I started to specialize, he told me that he would take care of everything while I study.” Kuroo props his arm up on the table, leaning his cheek into his hand. “I love him so much, really.”

Iwaizumi hummed. He wished he could do school full-time and not have to worry about work. But that meant that he would have to commit to someone and he didn’t know if he could do that right now. Plus having to meet someone and date? During this pandemic? No thanks. 

Iwaizumi was dedicated to his studies and he hated his job, but it was very easy to make money, so he kept it, despite the pandemic. Kuroo’s knowledge of him being a bartender though opened a whole can of worms that could have been avoided. 

“You’re a bartender?” Kuroo asked. 

“No,” Iwaizumi answered. 

Kuroo smirked. “It’s too late to rescind your statement. So, with all your bartending experience, do you go to like, personal events and stuff?”

“I don’t do either, so don’t get any ideas,” Iwaizumi warned. 

“I’m having a little get together with a couple of friends,” Kuroo started. 

Iwaizumi’s eyebrows shot up. “In this pandemic?” He hummed in disagreement. 

“It’s just a small amount of people, it’ll be fine,” Kuroo dismisses with a wave of his hand. 

“Is it going to be ten or less people?” Iwaizumi questions. 

Kuroo turns, starting to collect his things as class was coming to a close. “Yeah, more or less,” he mumbles under his breath purposely. 

Iwaizumi sighs. “You know that it’s like, _illegal_ to have gatherings with more than ten people, right?”

Kuroo turns back to Iwaizumi. “First of all, not _illegal_ , but not recommended. Secondly, I know of everyone’s whereabouts so I am fully aware of everyone’s exposure, or lack thereof. And thirdly,” he punctuates by showing three fingers. “We will all be wearing masks. It’ll be fine.”

“Sounds unbelievable and I’m actually worried about how far you’ve thought this out,” Iwaizumi admits. 

“So, are you coming?” Kuroo asks. 

“No,” Iwaizumi answers quickly. 

“Great! I’ll send you my address and I’ll see you there this weekend.” Kuroo says as he’s standing, slinging his bag over his shoulder. “Bye, Iwaizumi.”

Not seconds after Kuroo steps out of the classroom, Iwaizumi gets a message from Kuroo with his address, date, and time.

Iwaizumi had no plans to go. He had the night off from the bar, so he was going to spend the night studying for the test the upcoming Monday. Working the bar made him tired of socializing, and a gathering at Kuroo’s would mean nothing but socializing. He would rather stay in the comfort of his own apartment, alone, bored, and perfectly safe. 

So why did he find himself knocking at Kuroo’s apartment door an hour after the original start time of the get-together?

There was... a _lot_ of people. More people than Iwaizumi thought there was going to be. He was going to admit that he was definitely uncomfortable being surrounded by so many people, but the fact that everyone was wearing masks made him feel _some_ comfort. Not much, but some. 

“As our resident bartender, why don’t you become responsible for the drinks?” Kuroo asks, motioning Iwaizumi towards the kitchen. 

“This is the only reason you wanted me here, wasn’t it?” Iwaizumi asked with a glare. 

He couldn’t tell with the mask, but something gave Iwaizumi the idea that Kuroo was smiling under his mask by the crinkling of his eyes. “I want to get you out of your routine, buddy. Get you some more friends and a social life!”

“We’re not supposed to be having a social life,” Iwaizumi mutters. 

“You’re such a stickler for the rules, Iwaizumi. Loosen up, have some fun!” Kuroo pushes Iwaizumi towards a variety of bottles that were standing on a counter. “Get yourself a drink and while you’re at it, why don’t you serve others too?” Kuroo wiggles his fingers at Iwaizumi and heads out the kitchen, disappearing into a small crowd of people. 

Iwaizumi glowers at Kuroo’s back before turning to the bottles on the counter. There were several hard liquors, mixing liquids, beer. More beer than everything else. 

“Ugh, this is a lot like a frat party more than anything,” a voice beside Iwaizumi said, basically reading his mind. 

Iwaizumi looks to his mind reader and it’s another male, taller than him, skin slightly fairer than his, his hair brown and floaty around his head like a halo almost. The other male looks at Iwaizumi. 

“I’d kill for a margarita right now,” he sighs. 

Iwaizumi looks over at everything that was set up on the counter and hums. “I mean, I could make you one with what we have here, but... no promise that it will be that great.”

The stranger taps his chin over his mask. “That’s a risk I’m willing to take. Go for it,” he motions with a hand. 

Iwaizumi nods and he starts rummaging through the bottles. He grabs a cup and heads to the freezer, grabbing some ice. He adds a couple of appropriate shots and some mixer, rimming the cup with salt and lime before handing it to the stranger.

“Wow, you’re good at this,” he sings, taking the cup. He brings his mask down slightly and he takes a small sip. His eyes widen and he looks down at the cup before looking back at Iwaizumi. “Wow, you really are good at this!”

Iwaizumi shrugs. “I’m surprised— the ingredients Kuroo has aren’t the greatest.”

The stranger chuckles. “When is Kuroo’s stuff ever that great?”

“I heard that!” Kuroo’s voice calls from the living room somewhere. 

The stranger now giggles. “Whoopsie!” he says before taking another sip. “You did a good job. I get the feeling you’re kinda experienced in this,” he says, adjusting his mask over his face. 

Iwaizumi shrugs again. “I work as a bartender sometimes. I guess you could say I’m slightly versed in alcoholic beverages.”

The stranger scoffed slightly. “Slightly versed,” he mocks with a nod. “Let me guess, Kuroo dragged you here to make the drinks?”

“Basically,” Iwaizumi sighs. 

“Well, at least you make good drinks,” he replies, lifting his cup in cheers. 

Iwaizumi didn’t have a drink, so he grabs a beer and cracks it open, tapping it to his cup. “Cheers, to this ill-timed gathering.”

“Cheers,” he chuckled. 

They both bring their masks down and take a drink. The beer is lukewarm and disgusting. A shiver runs through Iwaizumi as he swallows and he sets the beer down. 

“Fix yourself something,” the stranger motioned once he saw Iwaizumi’s reaction. 

“I don’t really want to drink that much, I still have to get back home.” Iwaizumi didn’t live that far from Kuroo’s apartment, in fact, he lived in the building next door, but he didn’t want to drink too much to prevent him from going home.

“Then don’t make it as strong. You’re a bartender, I’m sure you can make yourself something that’s not so much alcohol but not exactly virgin either. Work that bartender magic with what you got,” he replies, motioning his fingers at the bottles. 

Iwaizumi hums, looking at the bottles at his disposal. He didn’t want to drink the beer since it was lukewarm, so he figured he could get himself some rum and sprite. He went easy on the rum and more on the sprite. 

“That’s the spirit. Let’s try this again,” the stranger raises his cup towards Iwaizumi. “Cheers.”

“Cheers,” Iwaizumi replies, tapping his cup to the stranger’s and taking a sip along with him. This drink was more suited to his tastes rather than lukewarm beer. He lets out a satisfied hum after he sighs and the stranger across from him smiles before replacing his mask. 

“We’re definitely in the wrong place and the wrong time, and we all definitely shouldn’t be here, but, we could at least enjoy ourselves for a bit, don’t you think?” The stranger asks. 

Iwaizumi wasn’t usually one to go along with a stranger’s whims but the alcohol made him feel a little, the tiniest bit warm and the stranger was a lot more agreeable than Iwaizumi liked to admit. 

The rest of the night goes on with the pretty stranger in his premises, fixing drinks for anyone that came by and asked. Iwaizumi had said that he didn’t want to socialize, nor did he want to serve drinks, but the pretty stranger provided enough of a distraction that he fixed these drinks anyway.

Iwaizumi found out that this person was in the same university, studying to become a literature teacher for high school students. He still wasn’t set as to what class to teach, but he had a passion for literature, especially old English. He went on and on about Jane Eyre, a book Iwaizumi had never read before, but he liked listening to this stranger. His classes were early, just like Iwaizumi’s, but they were on different sides of the campus, so they’ve never crossed paths before. 

“So who do you know from here?” Iwaizumi asks, fixing himself his he-doesn’t-remember-which-cup-this-is of rum and sprite. 

“Tetsu-chan,” he replies, leaning on the counter. 

Iwaizumi furrows his eyebrows in confusion and then it clicks in his head. “Kuroo?”

The stranger pats his forehead and laughs. “Right, right, sorry, _Kuroo_ ,” he says. “Kuroo and I had a class together, I don’t remember which. But yeah, I have a couple other more friends here, like Tobio—“ he pauses to tap at his mouth over his mask. “Sorry. I have Kageyama, Hinata, Daichi,” he rolls his hand. “The list could go on.”

Iwaizumi nods, some of those names familiar. “Kuroo and I have a class together, too. Anatomy. I have one or two other friends here as well,” he says. 

“I can help you with anatomy if you ever need any,” the stranger winks at him and Iwaizumi feels a flush run through his body, a lot more aggressive than the usual warm flush alcohol gives him. 

Iwaizumi sputters into his drink and the other laughs loudly, a sound so addictive that Iwaizumi wants to hear it again. Iwaizumi begins to cough so he slips his mask on and coughs into his elbow, prompting the other to begin apologizing profusely, giggling between his apologies. 

The coughing prompts Kuroo to come into the kitchen, eyeing Iwaizumi suspiciously. “Excuse me, why are you coughing?” He questions. 

The stranger puts a hand on Iwaizumi’s shoulder. “Oh, it’s nothing, it’s just the drink went down the wrong pipe, Tetsu-chan, don’t worry!”

Kuroo eyes the stranger and then looks back to Iwaizumi. “I don’t know the Heimlich maneuver, so if you start choking, I’m not saving your ass.”

“That’s so rude,” the stranger says on behalf of Iwaizumi. “After he comes here against his will, and you make him serve drinks on his night off, you wouldn’t save him?” 

“Oikawa, no one asked you,” Kuroo replies, pointing a finger at the now not-stranger. 

“Fun fact: everyone always asks me, Tetsu-chan,” he says, pointing back. “Poor guy didn’t want to be here yet you dragged him here against his will.”

“Okay, I didn’t do all that—”

“And on top of that, you’re making him serve drinks, for _free_? The least you could do is having your friends pay him for his services.” The stranger now known as Oikawa said.

“Okay, okay, I’ll make some sort of payment for him but I’m going to need to know why he’s coughing,” Kuroo says, poking Iwaizumi’s rib. 

“I’m choking because of this idiot,” Iwaizumi mutters, pointing at Oikawa. 

Oikawa squawks. “Wow, I’m here, trying to save your skin and you’re over here, slandering me!”

“Only because of your terrible flirting!” Iwaizumi replies. 

“My flirting is not terrible!” Oikawa exclaimed. 

“Regardless of the quality of the flirting,” Kuroo interrupted. “Either you stop coughing or you need to leave.”

“You know what, I’d gladly leave,” Iwaizumi says, putting his cup down on the counter. “Have a good night,” he says, looking to Oikawa. “I’ll fucking put up with you on Monday,” he says to Kuroo. 

“You’re so rude,” Kuroo mutters while Oikawa laughs. 

“It’s what you deserve, Tetsu-chan,” Oikawa says, patting Kuroo’s shoulder. “Have a good night,” he bids a farewell to Iwaizumi.

The gathering still seemed far from ending considering the lights being dimmed and music playing. Still, given the opportunity to leave, he took it. Iwaizumi takes his leave with a little bit of Kuroo’s reluctance.

Once Iwaizumi steps out of the building to walk towards his own, the brisk chill of the night fills his lungs and sends a shiver through his body. He nearly considered going back to the warmth of the gathering, but for what? To fix more drinks for more people and revel in the warmth that a pretty stranger named Oikawa provided? 

Maybe next time. 

➳

Oikawa Tooru was a social butterfly but the pandemic twisted him into an antisocial one. It would take some convincing to bring him out but when his friends asked him to come out, he’d come out to spend some time with them. More often than not, he was trying to convince himself that he was worth his friends’ time, rather than go out during a pandemic.

He and his family had their own rounds with the virus, and luckily it was very mild and they got over it quickly. Despite having his lucky run with the virus, he always made sure to stay careful and reassure others to be safe too. 

Kuroo had a tendency of throwing little “get-togethers”, as he called them. And the get-togethers were not small and definitely not pandemic friendly. Oikawa was very hesitant to go at all, but Kuroo bugged about it. He bugged and bugged and bugged until Oikawa finally relented. 

“It’s fine! You’ve already tested negative and everyone else has had minimal exposure. We will all be wearing masks and everyone knows that if they have come in contact with any suspicious individual to not show up at all.”

“That’s not very conforming, Tetsu-chan,” Oikawa chuckles lightly. 

“C’mon, Oikawa. You’ve been closed off ever since the pandemic started,” Kuroo whined. 

“Yeah, because that’s what they told us to do,” Oikawa replies. 

“But it’s only gotten worse! Even after you recovered, you’re coming out less. I know you Oikawa, and if I let you go unattended for any longer, you’re going to start skipping classes and—“

“Alright, alright! I’ll go to your stupid little party!” Oikawa interrupts, an embarrassed heat rising to his cheeks. 

Oikawa wasn’t a fan of speaking about his encounters with his depression and Kuroo was miraculously always there to stop his episodes ever since he found Oikawa in one. Oikawa wasn’t proud of it, but he couldn’t help his emotions. Kuroo never blamed him for it — he was well versed in medical conditions and after Oikawa’s accident, the best type of support he could give was his presence. His constantly annoying yet heartwarming presence. Oikawa always pretended to be annoyed by it but he always appreciated Kuroo’s concern. 

“At least just for a bit. If you start to feel uncomfortable, you don’t have to stay, alright?” 

“So first you hound me in, then you’re all nice and caring about it, Tetsu-chan?”

Kuroo smirks. “Of course! And it’s a ‘get-together’, not a ‘party.’”

And when Kuroo corrected himself, Oikawa later knew he was wrong. Because the longer he stayed at the “get-together” the more he realized that this was becoming a party. And to top it off, it was a mix between a frat and jock party. Half of the university’s volleyball team was there, which he knew all very well. 

After all, he was a part of the team once. 

“Oikawa-san!” 

Oikawa turned to the sound of his name and dread begins to fill his stomach. He swallows and grins. “Shouyo!” 

“It’s been so long since I’ve seen you! Are you doing okay? How’s your knee?” He asks. Still as loud and lively as ever. 

“Yup! All better! Almost completely healed for the most part,” Oikawa replies, shifting on his feet. 

“Ever since your accident, I never saw you again. I thought you had left campus,” Hinata says. 

Oikawa chuckles, looking elsewhere. “Well, no point in me going to the gym if I can’t play anymore, now is there, Shouyo?” Hinata murmurs some words of agreement. “With my injury, I’ve fully focused on my teaching degree, so... that’s what I’m doing right now.”

“So you’re never going to step foot on a court again?” 

“Rather rude way to ask how I’m doing, Tobio-chan, but,” Oikawa sighs. “My injury was bad enough to ruin that career for me.”

Kageyama purses his lips and nods. “I see. I’m... I’m sorry to hear that.”

There was a small silence that passed through them, despite all the chatter and music around them. Hinata whispered something to Kageyama and Oikawa cleared his throat. 

“Sorry, feeling a little thirsty, so I’m going to...” Oikawa’s voice trailed off and he pointed towards the kitchen, making his escape. 

Oikawa already wanted to leave. He didn’t feel comfortable talking about the injury that ruined his volleyball career. Not that he wasn’t looking forward to his teaching career, but... volleyball was life for Oikawa. And to get pity looks from prodigy Kageyama? That was icing on the cake. 

Looking at the available alcohol made Oikawa realize just how lacking this so-called “party” was. “Ugh, this is a lot like a frat party more than anything” he sighed, coming to a stop beside someone. “I’d kill for a margarita right now.” Especially considering the conversation he just had. 

Oikawa didn’t have any intentions to fix himself anything but the boy who was standing next to him said something about making one. Oikawa wasn’t going to turn down a free drink. He let the guy have his fun and he was surprised. Seemed like the guy knew his alcohol. 

Oikawa wasn’t a fan of gatherings or masks. It hid his natural beauty and also hid the natural beauty of other girls. He missed seeing pretty smiles and blushing faces. And he missed being admired by his little group of fangirls. Still, the mysteriousness of seeing people without their masks always was like a refreshing sip of water. 

When the guy who fixed his drink brought his mask down to take a sip of his own beer, Oikawa felt like a wave from the Pacific Ocean slapped against him. He attributed the chill he felt to his cold drink and the flutters in his stomach to the alcohol. Oikawa could appreciate all genders for what they’re worth and this guy in front of him was giving him palpitations. 

Oikawa spent the whole night with him, just talking. Oikawa wasn’t a person to chat with strangers, but something felt so calm, so reassuring, so _easy_ to talk to this man that he couldn’t stop himself. Oikawa tipped headfirst into literature and the guy just listened to him rant, about Jane Eyre and all the allusions English literature did. The guy didn’t seem to know about anything literature related but he remained active in the conversation, asking about his favorite books and why. 

Eventually, Oikawa thought he could pause and stop talking about himself for once, and thought to get to know his companion. He’s asking about mutual friends — of course, he knows Kuroo, who doesn’t know Kuroo — and states what class he shares. He says anatomy and the words are spilling out of his mouth before he can stop them. 

“I can help you with anatomy if you ever need any,” he winks. It was a terrible joke and he begins to regret his choice of words as the guy spits his drink and starts coughing. Despite laughing, Oikawa apologizes. Even if he was a bit tanner and the lights weren’t that bright, Oikawa could see a blush. And it made his heart flutter. 

Kuroo had to come and assess the moment, the coughing being deemed suspicious. He took his leave after some banter with Kuroo and he bade his farewell. Once he left, Oikawa felt a little colder than he was before and decided to take his leave as well. 

Monday morning, he received a call from Kuroo. 

“Good morning,” Kuroo drawls at 6:30 in the morning. 

“Morning, Tetsu-chan. To what do I owe this pleasure of you calling me at such an ungodly hour?” Oikawa asks with a yawn. 

“Coffee after first class?” 

“Only if you’re treating.”

Kuroo scoffs. “I’m not made of money bags.”

“No, but Pudding-chan kind of is. He could spare a buck or two.”

“A buck or two?” Kuroo laughs. “You act like your caffeine addiction costs ‘a buck or two’.”

“It fills the void inside me, Tetsu-chan. Are you going to treat me, yes or no?”

Kuroo sighs. “Fine. The usual?”

Oikawa nods. “The usual.”

“Cool, see ya in a few.”

After Oikawa’s first lesson, he went to meet with Kuroo at the campus coffee shop. It was a small little cafe that was undoubtedly small for a university of this size but with the pandemic, it considerably brought traffic down. Oikawa found Kuroo sitting outside at one of the tables, two cups in front of him as he sat slouched on his phone. 

“Hope I didn’t keep you waiting for so long,” Oikawa greeted, pulling a chair across from Kuroo to sit down. 

Kuroo doesn’t stir nor does he look up from his phone. “I was about to leave and your latte got cold already,” he replies, motioning his head towards Oikawa’s latte. 

“Oh, bummer,” Oikawa coos, taking his cup. He could feel the heat of his latte permeate through the sleeve of the paper cup. He took blew into the cup and took a sip, and naturally, his impatience led him to burn the tip of his tongue. “Yeah, this is freezing, what the hell, Tetsurou.”

“Listen Tooru, you made me wait so long, you piece of shit,” Kuroo replies, sitting up in his chair. 

“Alright, that’s taking it too far,” Oikawa pouts. 

Kuroo grins. “How are you feeling?” 

Oikawa quits pouting, tilting his head to the side. “I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

“Just following up with everyone,” he says, shrugging his shoulders. 

Oikawa raises an eyebrow. “Oh, I see. You had a party and now you want to follow up with everyone that was there to see if they have symptoms, aren’t you?”

“Not true, I just like to follow up on my friends,” Kuroo retorted.

Oikawa chuckles, shaking his head. “You’re full of shit,” he says. “I’m doing fine, not feeling anything. But really Tetsu-chan, if you’re going to have a party and then check up on all your friends to see if they’re having any symptoms, you probably shouldn’t be having parties, now should you?”

“First off, get-togethers, not parties. And secondly, I can do whatever the hell I want.” 

“But realistically, you’re making more trouble for yourself and in the given case one of us start showing symptoms or actually come back positive, you’re going to be held responsible for telling everyone there that they were exposed,” Oikawa says, leaning back in his chair. “You have to think about yourself and Kenma too, Tetsu-chan.”

“Ugh, you’re just like Iwaizumi. He gave me a whole spiel about this too,” Kuroo sighed. “We took a whole test and then cornered me and lectured me about it.”

“Because you deserve it,” Oikawa says, tilting his head at the new name. He didn’t know anyone by that name. “Who’s Iwaizumi?”

“The guy you spent the whole night with on Saturday.” 

Oikawa hummed. “I knew I liked him for a reason,” he nods. 

Kuroo rolls his eyes. “Birds of a feather flock together.”

“But you can’t deny that I’m right.”

Kuroo laughed. “It’s not even Iwaizumi that’s right, it’s you?”

“Of course,” Oikawa replies, flipping his hair. “I’m always right.”

“Riiight,” Kuroo sang. 

“I’m so glad you see my point of view, Kuroo.”

➳

It wasn’t long before Iwaizumi got another text about another “get-together” that Kuroo was hosting. It was about two weekends from the original one he went to. Kuroo claimed that it was going to be small and short, but he wasn’t surprised that it was neither small nor short. 

There were just as many people, if not a tiny bit more. And Iwaizumi got there at least an hour after the original start time. He had stayed until nearly one in the morning, which is something he thought he’d never do. Especially with the number of people that were there, and having to fix drinks on top of that. 

But what made Iwaizumi stay?

The pretty stranger named Oikawa.

Iwaizumi didn’t think he’d see him again and he didn’t think he’d be... excited? To see him again. 

Oikawa brightened when they made eye contact. “Hey! You’re the one who made me that really bomb margarita last time, right?” 

“Oikawa, wasn’t it?” Iwaizumi would be lying if he said he wasn’t hoping on seeing him again. 

“Iwaizumi... right?”

He blinks. “Did I even introduce myself?”

“You didn’t, which, by the way, was very rude,” Oikawa says, turning his head to look at the drinks. There was a better selection, due to Iwaizumi’s request. 

“To be fair, you didn’t introduce yourself either,” Iwaizumi retorted, stopping Oikawa’s hand from reaching for something. “Here, let me fix you something.”

Oikawa chuckles. “First, you don’t even introduce yourself, then you’re making me drinks?” Oikawa moves the bottles to the side and hops up onto the kitchen counter. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re trying to take me home tonight,” he sings. 

A couple of ice cubes miss the cup that Iwaizumi was pouring in and clattered on the ground. Iwaizumi swore under his breath and dipped down to scoop the ice cubes and toss them into the sink before coming to stand beside Oikawa. 

“You wish,” Iwaizumi scoffs, distracting himself by mixing alcohol. 

Oikawa watched him make his fancy little margarita like last time, his hand reaching out to take the cup, purposely brushing fingers. Oikawa brings the cup up and removes his mask from one ear. “Would it be that bad if I did?” He asks, winking over the rim of his cup before he takes a sip. Following the sip is a satisfying groan and Oikawa’s replacing his mask over his features. “You get better every time, Iwa-chan.”

Iwaizumi’s eyebrows furrow. “Iwa-cha—“

“— That’s what she said,” Oikawa interrupted. 

Even behind a mask, a blush erupts on Iwaizumi’s face, and he hopes, prays, that Oikawa can’t see it in the dim lights of the kitchen. 

Iwaizumi tucks his hands into his jacket and looks away. “Tch, what are you, 13?” He asks, trying to redirect the conversation. 

Oikawa laughs. “Plus 10, yes,” he replies, turning on the counter and looking towards the bottles. 

“You know your ass shouldn’t be on the counter. Not pandemic friendly,” Iwaizumi replies, side-eyeing Oikawa. 

“Well, neither is this party, but look where we’re at. Besides, my ass is very friendly.” Oikawa picks up a bottle of rum and reaches for the sprite, nearly tipping over his own drink. 

“Woah, watch it!” Iwaizumi shouts, reaching forward to grab the cup before it spills. 

“Whoopsie,” Oikawa sings as he brings both bottles to his chest. “Why do I have to watch it if I’ve got you here?” He winks before taking an empty cup and shaking it at Iwaizumi. “Ice, please!”

Iwaizumi narrows his gaze at him and takes the cup, turning to the coolers to get ice. He fills the cup halfway and gives it back to Oikawa. “And what on earth are you making?” Iwaizumi asks while Oikawa sets the cup down and starts to unscrew the lid to the rum. 

“Well,” he says as he tips the bottle over to pour into the cup. “You made me a drink, the least I could do is make yours.”

Oikawa has already poured more than one shot. Iwaizumi chuckled. “Do you have any bartending experience?” Shot number two in the cup. 

“Nope!” Oikawa replies, lifting the bottle up at three and a half shots. “But it’s the thought that counts, isn’t it?” He asks as he opens the sprite. 

“If the thought includes me getting drunk,” Iwaizumi reports. 

“Duh,” Oikawa answers, topping the rest of the cup with sprite. He looks around and then leans over to pull at the drawers under his thighs. 

“Careful,” Iwaizumi warned, putting a hand to Oikawa’s side to keep him stable as he leaned over in search of a stirring utensil. 

“What are you, my mom?” Oikawa coos. 

“Alright,” Iwaizumi relents and he pulls his hand back. He watches how Oikawa slowly but surely kept leaning forward until he flinched and Iwaizumi darted forward to reach him. 

Oikawa laughs as his torso is pressed up against Iwaizumi, looking down at him. “Why be careful when I have you?” He says softly. Soft enough that Iwaizumi shouldn’t have been able to hear but Oikawa was all he could hear.

Iwaizumi gapes for a moment and he thanks whatever higher being that he’s wearing a mask to hide his embarrassment. “You don’t have shit, Shittykawa, I didn’t sign up to be your babysitter,” he mutters, helping Oikawa straighten before he pulls a spoon out from the drawer and pushed it closed. 

Oikawa takes the spoon, a small pout growing on his lips as Iwaizumi puts space between them. If he was going to be honest with himself, he might have liked being pressed up against Oikawa. 

“Okay, here’s your drink,” Oikawa coos after stirring. He slides the cup over to Iwaizumi. “And your method of payment, sir?”

“Shouldn’t you be paying me for the drink that I made you?” Iwaizumi asks, taking the cup. 

Oikawa scoffs, waving a hand at him dismissively. “Please, Iwa-chan, that drink was on the house!” He laughs, taking a sip of his drink. 

“Then I shouldn’t have to pay you either, since my drink is also on the house,” Iwaizumi replies, taking his mask off as he brought up his cup. 

“It’s only in the house when you make it,” Oikawa says, bringing his cup up to Iwaizumi. 

Iwaizumi raises an eyebrow. “Are you the assigned bartender?” He questions, tapping his cups to his with a “cheers”. 

“No, but I’m the assigned food and beverage manager, so that makes me your boss, and I can tell you what to do,” Oikawa replies before they both take sips out of their drinks. 

Iwaizumi’s is strong, as he expected, but it was good nonetheless. He takes a small sip, stirring his cup to get the ice moving, and watches Oikawa in front of him. He’s taking a long drink from his cup and Iwaizumi tries not to stare too much at him. 

The whole thing with the pandemic is that wearing masks hid the faces that Iwaizumi didn’t want to see. Like Kuroo’s, for example. He hated seeing his face but he had to put up with it since they were in the same class together. Iwaizumi felt the same for everyone equally, but for some reason, when he met Oikawa, he wanted to see him mask-less. In fact, he wanted to see him more often, which was a surprise altogether. 

“Therefore, as your manager, my drinks are free and you have to pay for your own drinks,” Oikawa smiled and Iwaizumi could swear that his heart stuttered. 

“That’s bullshit, I call a strike,” Iwaizumi responds. 

“Hey! No striking in my kitchen!” Kuroo says, sticking his head in through the doorway. “And Oikawa, get your ass off my counters!”

“Whoopsie,” Oikawa sings and slides off the counter. Kuroo shoots narrowed glances at the two of them before exiting the kitchen. As soon as Kuroo exited the kitchen, Oikawa jumped back on the counter. 

Iwaizumi shakes his head. “You’re so annoying,” he says. 

Oikawa squawks in indignation. “Iwa-chan! That’s so rude!”

“And dare I ask what I have to pay for this,” Iwaizumi pauses to cough “shitty” into his cup. “Drink?” 

Oikawa was pouting now and Iwaizumi thinks that this is one of the most expressive people he’s ever met. “I heard that, you know?”

Iwaizumi smiles into his cup, shrugging. “I have no idea what you mean,” he mutters into his cup before being lost to a sip. 

“You’re so annoying,” Oikawa muttered. 

“Aww, don’t talk about yourself that way, it’s okay,” Iwaizumi coos, patting his shoulder. 

That tips Oikawa over and he reaches over to push Iwaizumi away. Iwaizumi catches Oikawa’s hand and it’s slightly rough against his. Iwaizumi turns Oikawa’s hand in his, noticing rough, calloused spots similar to where Iwaizumi had his own. 

“You play volleyball?” Iwaizumi felt him tense in his grasp. 

“Do you?” Oikawa asks instead. 

Iwaizumi turns his hand to match Oikawa’s. “We have the same callouses, almost. Yours are healing,” he replies, a thumb grazing the top of Oikawa’s palm. His eyes flicker up to look at Oikawa and the expression on his face was neutral, but his eyes shown with a sadness that Iwaizumi couldn’t begin to comprehend. 

“Every day since I was five years old,” he says quietly. A lot quieter than he’s ever heard this boy be in the 3 hours he’s known him. “I was on the university team, but... I tore my ACL and well... can’t really play again with an injury like that.” Oikawa balls his hand and pulls away for Iwaizumi. 

“Oikawa, I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” he murmurs. 

Oikawa smiles, shaking his head. “It’s okay,” he says, holding his hands and looking down at them. “It’s been a couple months since I recovered but the mental wound is... it’s still fresh.”

“I can only imagine,” Iwaizumi replies. 

“Yeah.” 

Silence started to grow between them and Oikawa was taking bigger drinks out of his cup. Compared to the life of the not so party they were having, Iwaizumi didn’t think this was the right place to be for a conversation like this. Besides, they both didn’t agree with social gatherings anyway. 

“Want to get out of here?” Iwaizumi asked. 

Oikawa looked over at him. “But I drove here and I drank,” he motions to his cup.

“I live in the next building.” He downs half of his cup and he pours the rest down the sink. He would expect some sort of retort from Oikawa had his mood not gone down with it. 

Iwaizumi slips his mask back on and he offers his hand to Oikawa. Oikawa looks down at his hand before looking at him. He could say some witty remark or retort, but it’s the gesture that counts. 

Oikawa smiles and slips his mask back on before taking Iwaizumi’s hand and sliding off the counter. Moving a little too fast for the alcohol that was probably replacing his blood, he teeters slightly and Iwaizumi puts a hand in his hip to stabilize him. 

“Drunk already?” He asks with a raised eyebrow. 

“How can I not be with your presence and that mean margarita?” Oikawa coos. 

Iwaizumi chuckles, rolling his eyes, pulling his hand away from Oikawa’s waist. “I’m already taking you out of here, you don’t need to flirt with me some more,” he mutters before letting go of Oikawa completely and turning to head out of the kitchen. 

Iwaizumi’s makes his way through the “small get-together”, motioning his head towards the door once he makes eye contact with Kuroo. Kuroo cocks his head to the side with a raised eyebrow and Iwaizumi motions his head back to Oikawa, who was following behind. When Kuroo sees Oikawa, his eyes widen slightly and he looks back at Iwaizumi with a narrowed gaze. Even without seeing the rest of his face, Iwaizumi could tell that he was smirking. 

Iwaizumi shot Kuroo a glare before he rolled his eyes and continued out of the apartment.

➳

The warmth of the crowd and the alcohol definitely made the outdoors feel a lot cooler than it really was. Oikawa was wearing a thin long-sleeved shirt and the wind was cutting through him like he was practically naked. He wrapped his arms around himself, a small shiver escaping his lips. 

“Cold?” Iwaizumi asked.

Oikawa shakes his head. “A-A bad bitch never gets cold,” he says, straightening. 

Iwaizumi laughed. “Yeah, okay,” he replies, shrugging off his jacket. 

Oikawa tilts his head to the side. “What are you doing?” He asks. 

Iwaizumi extends his jacket over Oikawa’s shoulders. “Keeping this bad bitch from getting hypothermia,” he replies, tucking his hands into his jeans.

Oikawa is flooded with the smell of Iwaizumi. It was a mix of cologne and something that was purely Iwaizumi that made Oikawa dizzy but in a good way. Oikawa hums, clutching the lapels of the jacket to his chest, reveling in the warmth and the smell. 

The two walk around the complex grounds, Oikawa in his tipsy stupor not wanting to go to Iwaizumi’s apartment, despite the promise of warmth. He didn’t want to come off as easy, plus he barely knew the guy to begin with. Still, he felt comfortable being around him, enough to take his mask off as they walked together.

“You’re taking your mask off?” Iwaizumi asks.

“I trust you,” Oikawa says, stuffing his mask into one of the pockets of the jacket. 

“But can I trust you?” Iwaizumi threw back.

Oikawa scoffs, shooting a pouted glare at Iwaizumi. “You’re so mean, Iwa-chan,” he huffs, kicking a pebble that was at his feet. “I‘ll have you know, I already had the stupid virus, so I’m fine.” 

“Oh,” was Iwaizumi’s response, which made Oikawa look up. “Were you okay?”

“I’m here, aren’t I?” Oikawa responds. 

Iwaizumi chuckles lightly, taking his mask off. “I guess you’re right.” He folds his mask and slips it into his back pocket. “But really though, how was it?” 

They were walking around the complex center, which had a large round fountain, a couple benches, a playground, and a dog park. Currently, Oikawa was standing on the lip of the fountain, walking on it like it was a sobriety test. If he fails, he either gets caught by Iwaizumi or falls into the fountain. He hopes that it was the former rather than the latter.

“It was fine. I had a very mild case of it. Loss of taste, smell, the usual, I guess,” Oikawa shrugs. 

“It must have been weird losing your sense of taste,” Iwaizumi commented.

“Yeah, a little bit! I didn’t lose my taste completely, but I had like... the five flavor groups? Like bitter, salty, sweet.” 

“That’s three,” Iwaizumi says.

“Nuances,” Oikawa dismisses with a wave of his hand. “I was curious as to how bad my taste was affected, so I took a straight shot of tequila.” 

Iwaizumi chuckles. “Oh, do go into detail on how that went.” 

“It went as well as you think. It was very bitter and tasted terrible. I then proceeded to get drunk,” he says with a laugh. “But I got my taste back about a week after my diagnosis, so it was quite the experience.” 

“Well, I’m glad you’re feeling better now.” Iwaizumi says.

“My whole family got it, but we’re all better now,” Oikawa says, extending his arms out to keep his balance. This was probably the tenth time having gone around the fountain and he was starting to get dizzy. 

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“How about you?” Oikawa asks, looking to Iwaizumi.

“I haven’t caught anything— watch out!” 

Oikawa takes an extra step forward instead of taking a curved step and steps out onto air. He feels the rush of air as he takes his wrong step and he closes his eyes, expecting to collide with the ground. But instead of meeting the hard ground, he’s caught by Iwaizumi. 

Oikawa’s pressed against Iwaizumi’s chest, one of Iwaizumi’s arms under Oikawa’s, the other wrapping around his back, and they were face to face, inches apart. 

“Well...” Iwaizumi says, clearing his throat lightly. “Looks like I caught Bad Bitch Disease now,” he mumbles, a blush creeping on his face.

Oikawa blinks before he starts laughing. He stabilizes his footing and brings a hand to his lips to try to muffle his laughter. “Bad Bitch Disease,” he stammers between giggles. Iwaizumi lets him go and takes a step back, frowning slightly, murmuring that it really wasn’t all that funny. And Oikawa didn’t know what it was — if it was the alcohol in his system, the cool breeze with a starry night sky, or the fluttering in his heart, but it was at that moment that Oikawa Tooru realized that he might have a crush on this guy. 

Once Oikawa’s laugh dies down, he smiles fondly at Iwaizumi. “Iwa-chan, I’m tired,” he sighs, rubbing his eyes.

“Do you want me to drive you home?” Iwaizumi asks.

“I don’t remember where I live right now. Can I crash at your place?” 

Iwaizumi gapes for a moment but he nods after a while. “Yeah, uh, sure.” Iwaizumi turns and starts leading the way to his apartment, leaving Oikawa to stare at his back for a moment. He had broad shoulders and he looked toned, even through his clothes.

Oikawa wonders if Iwaizumi was ever on the volleyball team and why they hadn’t met before. Even with his injury, he still knew a lot of the volleyball athletes — well it was hard to not know them when they were most of them loud and noisy like Hinata and Bokuto. Oikawa wondered if he would have the same feelings he was having now—

“Oikawa, you coming?” Iwaizumi’s asks, pulling him out of his thoughts.

Oikawa smiles and he clutches the jacket tight around him with one hand. “Iwa-chan, carry me~” he shouts before he starts running at Iwaizumi. 

“W-What, wait, hold on!” Iwaizumi cries, but Oikawa doesn’t listen, still running at Iwaizumi and jumping last second. Oikawa closes his eyes and he’s caught by Iwaizumi, an arm under his knees and the other around his back, as Oikawa wraps his arms around Iwaizumi’s neck. 

Oikawa peeks an eye up at Iwaizumi, who clearly wasn’t pleased about the whole ordeal but his eyes shone with something that said otherwise. 

“What are you, five?” Iwaizumi grumbles. 

“No, I’m a prince, get it right,” Oikawa murmurs, nuzzling into Iwaizumi’s neck and getting more drunk off the smell of him.

“I’m about to drop this prince,” Iwaizumi threatened, loosening his grip.

“Woah, woah, hey,” Oikawa says, tightening his grip around Iwaizumi’s neck. “Didn’t they teach you not to disrespect royalty?”

“Royalty, my ass,” Iwaizumi mutters, starting to walk towards his complex, adjusting his grip around Oikawa securely. 

“Oh, for sure, I can agree with you on that,” Oikawa coos.

“You’re on the last fucking straw, Shittykawa,” Iwaizumi replies.

When they arrived at Iwaizumi’s apartment, Oikawa was drifting in and out of sleep. The intoxicating smell of Iwaizumi and the rhythmic beating of his breathing was calming, lulling him to sleep. 

“Oikawa.” The voice is soft and sweet, trying to rouse him from his sleep. “Oikawa, wake up.” 

“Tooru,” he mumbles. 

There’s a silence and Oikawa’s starting to drift back into his sleep again.

“Tooru.” 

His first name brings him out of his sleep slightly, humming in response. 

“I need your help,” the voice says again, attempting to keep him awake. “I need you to reach into my back pocket and grab my keys and my mask.”

“Mask?” Oikawa mumbles sleepily. “But we’re about to go to bed.” 

“Yes, but we need to put our masks on to go inside the building. And I need my keys to get inside,” the voice tried to reason. It was soothing, a low rumble against his cheek. “Tooru, please.”

Oikawa sighs sleepily. “Well, I guess when you put it that way,” he mumbles, lifting his head slightly. His eyes open and a blurred person is looking down at him. If he recalls correctly, he thinks it’s Iwaizumi. Who is also carrying him? “Don’t drop me.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he responds easily. 

Oikawa hums and he brings a hand down Iwaizumi’s chest, feeling the arms around him tightness. He slips his hand through the space between Iwaizumi’s arm and body, reaching for his back pocket. He felt fabric, then something cold. He grabbed both and brought his hand back to his chest. 

“These them?” He mumbles, his eyes not being able to focus. 

“Yes. Can you put my mask on me?” Iwaizumi asks. 

“You’re so needy,” Oikawa huffs, taking the mask and unfolding it. He takes the ear loops in both hands and looks at Iwaizumi’s face. He has to close one eye to focus on what he’s doing before he puts the mask on him. Once he successfully put the mask on, one of his hands cups Iwaizumi’s face. “You look better with a mask off.” 

Oikawa feels a weight against his hand and he hears a chuckle. “As do you, but you need to put your mask on too.” Oikawa whines. “Just until we get into the apartment.” Oikawa sighs and goes through his pockets. Once he finds his masks, he unfolds it and just sits it over his mouth and nose.

“There,” he huffs, crossing his arms against his chest. 

“Thank you,” he hears Iwaizumi murmur before they enter a building. 

An elevator ride and two hallways later, Oikawa was now in Iwaizumi’s apartment. 

“Take me to bed,” Oikawa says, pointing a finger out blindly into the room.

“That’s awfully forward of you,” Iwaizumi muses, leaning on the wall to kick off his shoes. He pushes off the wall and goes through his apartment, taking Oikawa into his bedroom and setting him down on his bed. 

Oikawa could think he was in heaven. Sure, the bed wasn’t as soft and comfy as his own, but it smelled like Iwaizumi and that was all he could ever ask for. Oikawa was quick to kick off his shoes and shrug the jacket off, grabbing the blankets and tucking himself in between the pillows. At this point, Oikawa got comfortable enough that sleep was taking him, making him ignore the nudges and pats from Iwaizumi. He was comfortable as it was.

➳

The next morning, Iwaizumi woke up with a crook in his neck for sleeping on the couch. He didn’t want to sleep on the couch, but Oikawa had literally claimed his whole bed, not leaving any space for him. He definitely minded not having a bed, but he didn’t mind that it was Oikawa that had it. 

The previous night rang vividly in his mind. The more time they spent outside, it seemed that the more the alcohol took effect in Oikawa’s system. He didn’t think it would be that quick of a change, but it happened and he was very affectionate. And it brought out a side of Iwaizumi that he was very unfamiliar with. Openly flirting back with him? It surprised him. 

Iwaizumi peeked his head into his bedroom, seeing Oikawa was still sleeping. He was going to take the opportunity to slip into the room and take a shower that hopefully wouldn’t wake Oikawa. 

Closing the bathroom door behind him, Iwaizumi turned the hot water on. Once the temperature settled, he stepped into the spray, allowing it to hit in the crook of his neck. Iwaizumi rolled his shoulders and his head, thinking of the events that transpired the previous night. 

The vulnerability that Oikawa had with him was one that Iwaizumi never had with anyone. It was mildly annoying, if he was being truthful, but he recalled the memories fondly. Oikawa was affectionate. Touchy in nature. He recalls the way Oikawa cupped his cheek and how he unconsciously leaned into his hand. 

Oikawa Tooru. 

He never realized that he didn’t know Oikawa’s first name until he muttered while Iwaizumi was trying to wake him. He was childish and mildly oblivious, but he was passionate. Iwaizumi didn’t learn much more about him that night, but he had come to the decision that he did want to learn more about Oikawa Tooru. 

When Iwaizumi came out of his shower in shorts and a towel hanging around his neck, he was startled slightly by Oikawa sitting up in his bed. 

“Iwa-chan!” Oikawa chirps before he turns to look the other way.

“Sorry, did I wake you?” Iwaizumi asks. 

Oikawa shakes his head. “No! I’ve, uh, been awake for a while. I was just trying to keep the hangover at bay,” he chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Anything you need? I can get you a glass of water, or if you want, I can make some breakfast—“

“Iwa-chan, did we do anything last night?” Oikawa interrupted. 

Iwaizumi gapes for a moment. “Uh, no? The only thing I tried to do was try to get you off the bed, but since you were dead asleep, I fell asleep on the couch,” he replies, rolling his shoulder again. He looks over at Oikawa’s back and he sees him breathe, his shoulders dropping in relief before he takes in a deep breath and looks back at him with a smile. 

A forced smiled.

“That’s a relief. I appreciate the offer for breakfast, but I really think I should go to my own place.” 

Iwaizumi pursed his lips and he nods. “Yeah, sure. Just let me know when you get there,” he says, reaching for his phone that he had left on the nightstand. “What’s your number?” 

Oikawa is getting up off the bed and he’s grabbing his shoes, heading out the bedroom. “I’ll have Tetsu-chan let you know when I’m home,” he says with a dismissive wave of his hand. 

Iwaizumi purses his lips and he leans on the doorframe of his bedroom door as he watches Oikawa traverse his apartment. What happened to the sweet and bubbly Oikawa? Was this really the type of person that he was? Had Iwaizumi fallen for a fake persona?

Oikawa stops at the door and he’s patting his pockets before looking back at Iwaizumi. “Iwa-chan, do you know where my mask is?”

Iwaizumi turns and he goes to his nightstand, where he had put his mask when he found it on the floor last night. He comes to a stop at the doorway and tosses it over to him. Oikawa isn’t quick enough to catch it and he sighs, coming forward to pick it up.

“Alright, that was kind of unnecessary,” Oikawa mutters. He picks the mask up and Iwaizumi turns, going into his bedroom to remove the sheets off his bed. Oikawa was in such a rush to leave anyway, Iwaizumi figured he wouldn’t waste his time with farewells.

While Iwaizumi was stripping his bed of his Oikawa-smelling sheets when hears mumbling from his living room and then a door close. Once the door closes, he sighs, dropping everything in his hands. 

Iwaizumi didn’t want to say that he got his hopes up with Oikawa Tooru. But... He kind of did get his hopes up with Oikawa Tooru. Despite how annoying Oikawa is, they seemed to get along fairly well. But he guessed it was the alcohol talking more than his rational mind. 

It was about two hours later when he got a text from Kuroo saying that Oikawa told him text Iwaizumi that he had been home. He just forgot to text. Iwaizumi ignores the text. 

The following Monday, Kuroo goes into the classroom, eyeing Iwaizumi. Iwaizumi ignores Kuroo for as long as he can until a volleyball is thrown at the back of his head. 

“Ack! What the hell!” Iwaizumi’s head spins to look at the culprit and Bokuto has one hand up in admittance that he had nothing to do with it, another pointing at Kuroo, who was catching the ball that was coming back at him. “Kuroo, what the fuck is your problem!” He asked. 

“Is what I’m trying to find out! You know, I thought you two would be in better spirits after having a nice little weekend, but you’re both being dodgy and awkward. One of you had to fuck it up somehow and I’m trying to find out who it was,” Kuroo says, spinning the ball in his hands. 

“Does it matter?” Iwaizumi yells, rubbing the back of his head. “It’s not like you needed to throw a fucking volleyball at my head,” he muttered, turning around and walking away. 

Kuroo tried to dig more out of Iwaizumi but he wouldn’t budge or let anything go. Kuroo eventually gave up and it got to the point where he changed seats when it came to the next lesson. Iwaizumi slightly felt bad but if he was finally able to have Kuroo off his back, he would take it. 

Several weeks pass by. 

Kuroo still doesn’t sit beside Iwaizumi, but he still sends him text messages to have him come to his little get-togethers. He even offers to pay him to have him serve drinks at the gathering, but Iwaizumi declines. He claimed to have picked up more shifts and wasn’t available. He’d rather work at the bar than go to a get-together. 

And it wasn’t a complete lie. Iwaizumi had started picking up shifts, to make a little extra money. Saturdays always brought in a bigger crowd and more tips. 

Iwaizumi worked at a sports bar, where it was a mix of food and drinks. Luckily for him, he only had to focus on drinks and not food, all the while being able to keep track of sports. He was only interested in volleyball but he could at least keep up with everything else just in case anyone brought it up. 

Like any other Saturday night, it was busy. Iwaizumi was occupied making several drinks for a couple when he heard his coworker, Akaashi, call for help after he was done. Bokuto generally came to visit Akaashi while he was at work and keep him occupied for unfair amounts of time occasionally, which meant that Akaashi had to deal with him until he behaved. 

Iwaizumi sees a hand come towards him with a card. “Evenin’, what can I get started for you?” He asks, wiping down the counter. 

“Iwa-chan?” 

Iwaizumi stops cleaning the counter and looks up, finding Oikawa. It was unfair how Iwaizumi’s heart clenched in his chest. Why was he, of all people, here? He made sure that he never told Kuroo where he worked. And he didn’t know if Bokuto even knew Oikawa. 

“What are you doing here?” They asked in unison. 

Iwaizumi’s eyebrows furrowed. “I work here?” 

“Oh, right,” Oikawa replied rubbing the back of his neck. “Can I have a Long Island iced tea, please?” He asks, offering his card again. 

Iwaizumi had the right to decline someone service. It was in the given case they were too inebriated and he deemed it unsafe to provide them with any more alcohol. Oikawa seemed as sober as they could come, so he doesn’t think he could get away with denying him service. 

Iwaizumi takes his card. “Start a tab?” He asks, tucking the card into half apron pocket as he filled a cup with ice. 

“Yeah, sure, why not,” Oikawa sighs.

Iwaizumi nods and he begins to work on Oikawa’s drink. It’s usually at this time where he starts to speak with the customer, ask about their day, and make small talk. He wanted to talk to him but he didn’t know... how? Why did there always seem to be alcohol in the mix when they had to talk to each other?

“Didn’t know you worked here,” Oikawa starts, taking one of the napkins and setting it on the counter in front of him. “This bar is fairly close to my apartment. I usually come here weekends. Have you been working here long?”

Iwaizumi glances over at Oikawa. “I’ve been working for a while. About a year,” he says, finishing the drink. He sets it down on the napkin Oikawa set and handed him a straw. “I don’t tend to work Saturdays.”

“Makes sense why I’ve never seen you,” Oikawa nods, taking the straw and unwrapping it. 

Iwaizumi nods and he’s thankful that another customer has come to pull him away from keeping conversation with Oikawa. Another drink on the rocks, something quick and easy. The good thing about Saturdays was that even if they were all simple drinks, there was an influx of people that would come at a time to order drinks. Each rush would last about 15 minutes and would leave him to refill the other customers who slowly sipped on their drinks. 

Meaning Oikawa. 

“Would you like another drink?” Iwaizumi asks as he comes to stop in front of Oikawa. 

Oikawa stirs at the cup in front of him and takes his last sip. “As much as I’d like to, I’ve driven here for once and I don’t want to drink more than I should.”

“God forbid I have to take you home again,” Iwaizumi mutters. 

Something flashes in Oikawa’s eyes and for a moment, Iwaizumi feels bad. “I’m a big boy, Iwa-chan, I can take care of myself.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Iwaizumi replies, closing Oikawa’s tab and handing him the receipt to sign. While he waits for Oikawa’s signature, he takes the glass and empties it of its ice and straw before setting it down in a bus tray.

When Iwaizumi comes back, Oikawa is gone, some cash sitting on top of the receipt. He looks over the receipt quickly to make sure he signed correctly when he sees extra writing towards the bottom. 

“Text me.” The handwriting was neat, neater than he ever saw another male’s handwriting be. And it included his phone number. 

It wasn’t often that Iwaizumi had customers who gave their phone numbers to him. Usually, it was women, and this wasn’t the first guy. He tends to ignore them because it could always lead to trouble. Oikawa was no exception but... the desire to talk to Oikawa was there too. 

Iwaizumi tore the section with his phone number off and tucked it into his pocket, setting aside the receipt to continue working. 

After the shift was over, Iwaizumi started at the crumpled paper in his hand. He wasn’t sure whether to text him or not. What does he even say? He inputs the number into his phone and saves it. Now he stares at the contact in his phone. He does this while he gets to his car and thinks about it while he drives home. 

Once he gets home, Iwaizumi has finally figured out what he was going to text Oikawa. It wasn’t going to be anything special. Just an “it’s Iwaizumi” and leave it at that. 

He sets his phone down on his nightstand and he goes to take a shower. When Iwaizumi comes out of his shower, his phone is flashing with new notifications. When he checks his phone, he has several text messages. From Oikawa. 

Oikawa: iwa-chan!!

Oikawa: tbh didn’t think u would text lol

Oikawa: um 

Oikawa: I wanted to know if you wanted to go for some coffee or something

Oikawa: just to talk about that morning

Oikawa: if you don’t, that’s ok!!

Oikawa: just wanna apologize

Oikawa: so let me know

Oikawa: please 

Oikawa: ok I’ll shut up now 

Iwaizumi chuckles softly. Ten messages in a span of two minutes. And it was 1 am on top of that. Embarrassing. 

➳

Oikawa felt ashamed for behaving the way he did. Iwaizumi was trying to be polite after his drunk self took possession of his bed. But the thing was, Oikawa had come to like Iwaizumi so much, he was afraid he might have done something stupid while he was drunk. And Oikawa’s solution?

To run away. 

Oikawa was a coward and he was embarrassed to admit it. Kuroo tried to get details out of him but even then, Oikawa couldn’t tell him anything because he didn’t remember what transpired over the night. 

All he could remember was waking up in a stranger’s bed, someone taking a shower, and having a splitting headache. When Iwaizumi came out of the shower, his heart froze. He could do stupid, forgetful drunk nights with anybody else. But Iwaizumi? He was afraid to scare away. 

Seeing Iwaizumi again sent butterflies to his stomach. He saw him as soon as he approached the bar and a part of him wanted to turn around and not drink. But Oikawa had had a particularly long day studying for a psychology exam and wanted a break. And Iwaizumi was the break he needed. 

But before he could let loose, he needed to apologize. And apologizing with a bar, alcohol, and many other ears between them wasn’t classy, nor was it Oikawa’s style. 

Oikawa wrote his phone number on the receipt and walked off. Embarrassment was setting in and Oikawa didn’t want to get turned down. Especially by Iwaizumi. That would probably be worse than tearing his ACL. 

The whole point of having gone to the bar for a drink was to unwind and relax. But when he got home, that was the last thing he could do. Oikawa kept checking his phone for a message from Iwaizumi. 

At one point, Oikawa was rational and he told himself that, “naturally, Iwaizumi won’t be able to answer right now because he’s at work. He’s busy obviously, that’s why he hasn’t texted you.”

But the irrational side of him told him, “he hates you and doesn’t want to talk to you. You treated him like shit and now karma’s a bitch. He probably threw your number in the trash. And he’s probably going to quit his job because now he knows that you know where he works and doesn’t want to see you again.”

Oikawa was pacing in his bedroom when his phone chimed at one in the morning. It’s not that Oikawa was too anxious to sleep, but he was too anxious to sleep. So when his phone chimed and was an unfamiliar number saying that it was Iwaizumi, such a heavy weight lifted off his shoulders. 

Oikawa rambled in text and it was embarrassing. He sent about ten texts and he wanted to apologize for rambling, but that would probably add five more texts. With the relief of Iwaizumi texting him, he was able to get in bed finally. 

About 15 minutes after Oikawa had sent his texts, he got a response. 

Iwa-chan: Sorry it took a while. Just got off not so long ago. I could do coffee

Oikawa: cool!!

Iwa-chan: Why are you still awake?

Oikawa: oh lol 

Oikawa: uh

Oikawa: I was studying for a test

That’s a lie. 

Iwa-chan: You’re not going to retain much if you stay up late studying 

Oikawa: studies show that if you study before bed, it will be stored for a short period of time and therefore be easy to recall

Iwa-chan: Top 10 ways to study isn’t scientifically correct and doesn’t count as “studies”

Oikawa chuckles. 

Oikawa: first off, rude

Oikawa: secondly, you don’t know me

Oikawa: maybe that method just happens to work for me

Iwa-chan: Yeah, sure, ok Shittykawa

Oikawa: hey!!

Oikawa: rude!!!

Iwa-chan: brb changing your contact name to Shittykawa

Oikawa: hey!! no!!

Iwa-chan: You’re right

Iwa-chan: Trashykawa sounds better

Oikawa: NOOOOOOO

They spend the next half hour bickering over text. Iwaizumi cuts it off by telling him that he’s going to sleep. 

Oikawa: I’ll be nice and let you sleep in

Oikawa: 11:30am at the coffee place on the outskirts of campus

Oikawa: see you there?

Iwa-chan: You’re so generous. Yeah, we can. See you later.

Oikawa: good night Iwa-chan 

Iwa-chan: Good night Tooru

Oikawa blushed and slammed a pillow into his face. 

Despite bidding his good night, Oikawa couldn’t sleep. His mind was too preoccupied with the fact that Iwaizumi called him by his first name. He didn’t think they shared first names. They had kept each other as acquaintances just by last names. But clearly, something happened over his drunken night that he doesn’t recall and spilled out his first name. And he gets called by his first name all the time, but Iwaizumi calling him by his first name? It sent butterflies fluttering in his stomach. 

Later that morning, Oikawa accidentally slept in. He rushed on campus and ran across it in full sprint, which was a bad decision altogether, but he didn’t want to keep Iwaizumi waiting. 

When he sees Iwaizumi leaning on the railing and looking into the river than ran through campus, he smiled. 

“Iwa-chan!” He calls, his jog slowing down until he was in front of him. Oikawa leans over the railing, panting. “God, it’s been a while since I’ve ran like that.”

“Are you even supposed to be running like that?” Iwaizumi asks. 

Oikawa shakes his head and looks over at him. “Probably not but I didn’t want to keep you waiting.”

“You idiot, don’t hurt yourself for my sake!” Iwaizumi shouts and Oikawa laughs. 

“Don’t yell at me, Iwa-chan, I just woke up,” Oikawa whines. 

“And then you said you’d let me sleep in,” Iwaizumi rolls his eyes and even though he did have his mask on, Oikawa could tell that he was smiling. “Cmon, let’s sit down.”

Iwaizumi bought their coffee, insisting that Oikawa remains seated with his leg propped up and a bag of ice wrapped in napkins resting on his knee. 

“It doesn’t even hurt,” Oikawa whined, shivering from the coldness of it. 

“Yeah, but you were already limping. It’s bound to be swollen by later today,” Iwaizumi says as he sets down Oikawa’s coffee in front of him and sitting across from him. 

“How do you know all this?”

“I’m studying to be a personal trainer that specializes in sports injuries,” Iwaizumi explains. 

“Oh,” he says, looking down at his knee. 

“My goal is to prevent injuries like yours happening to athletes,” he says, taking a sip from his coffee. 

“Hm, it would’ve been nice to have you in my life sooner,” Oikawa muses. 

“Also to prevent idiots like you from re-injuring themselves,” Iwaizumi deadpans. 

Oikawa winks. “Guess you’re going to have to keep an eye on me then.”

Iwaizumi exhales lightly, attempting to hide his smile with his coffee. Oikawa smiles to himself cupping his latte. The warmth of the paper cup was radiating through his hands, making him shiver slightly. 

“Are you cold?” Iwaizumi asks. 

“Ah, just a bit. The warmth from sprinting across campus is finally dissipating. Plus, the ice pack doesn’t help,” he says, pointing to his knee. 

“You’re still not allowed to take it off though,” Iwaizumi replies, shrugging his jacket off. 

This seemed vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t exactly put his finger on it. Iwaizumi put his coat around Oikawa’s shoulders before sitting back down. 

“Won’t you get cold?” Oikawa asks. 

Iwaizumi shrugs. “I’ll be fine,” he mutters. 

Oikawa hums, sliding his arms through the sleeves of the jacket and pulling it closed against his chest. The smell of Iwaizumi filled his senses again. It was just like waking up in his bed. It was a feeling so dizzying, so euphoric, he didn’t know if he was going to feel it again. The jacket itself was about his size and a comfortable fit. He didn’t want to take it off. 

Oikawa looks up at Iwaizumi and he was looking out towards the river. His hair was brushed up and his neutral expression seemed to be a frown. Despite that, there was a lot of light in Iwaizumi’s eyes that always seemed to attract Oikawa. 

“Iwa-chan?” Oikawa asks after a while. Iwaizumi hums in response, turning his gaze to Oikawa now. He feels a warmth flush through him and he looks down at the cup in his hands. He chews on the bottom of his lip as he tries to figure out what to say. “I want to apologize with regards to my behavior that morning,” he says, glancing up at him. 

Iwaizumi nods. “Okay,” he replies softly. 

Oikawa nods. “I... I didn’t intend to come off as stand-offish as I did. I didn’t remember anything from the previous night and I didn’t recall whose bed I was in. I was nervous, ashamed. And I was wondering what kind of idiot I made myself when I realized that it was you.”

“But you’re always an idiot,” Iwaizumi mutters, crossing his arms against his chest. 

Oikawa exhales a short laugh. “Well, that’s not nice,” he coos softly, shaking his head with a smile. “But... I was terrified I might have ruined things between us. I don’t know you very well, but I can’t help but feel this gravitation towards you. There’s no ‘us’ but... I wouldn’t mind if there was an ‘us’.”

Silence grows between them for a while. Iwaizumi takes a sip of his coffee, scratching his cheek. Oikawa’s biting his lip out of nerves. 

“I think...” Iwaizumi starts. Oikawa nods eagerly. He wants a response. And he’s terrified of being rejected. “I think we should get to know each other more.”

Oikawa purses his lips and nods, looking down. “Right.” He’s being rejected. He doesn’t blame him, he would probably reject himself too if he were Iwaizumi. Nobody wants a dropout athlete turned literature teacher who won’t shut up about—

“I’m not rejecting you,” Iwaizumi says, making Oikawa looked up. “I like you. But... I’d like to get to know you more... Tooru,” he mumbles. 

A blush explodes on Oikawa’s face, a heat so powerful that he has to start shrugging off Iwaizumi’s jacket just to get cool again. “I... O-Oh. Yeah, we can,” Oikawa clears his throat, a small smile on his lips. “We can do that, um... I... I promise I’m not forgetful, I just... When I drink, I don’t remember things and—” 

“I never told you my first name,” Iwaizumi interrupts. Oikawa sighs relief washing through him. “Hajime.”

“Hajime. I would... I would like that... Hajime,” Oikawa murmurs. 

➳

The next “get-together” Iwaizumi was invited to was a Halloween one. 

“It’s not gonna be big or special. Just gathering some friends over to celebrate the spookiest day of the year,” Kuroo says. 

“Okay, but did you know that Halloween is on a Saturday and there’s a full moon?” Bokuto says. 

“Okay, and did you also consider that we’re still in a pandemic and we shouldn’t be gathering in groups of more than ten people?” Iwaizumi adds. 

“Ugh, you and Oikawa stem from the same branch, so annoying,” Kuroo groaned. 

It had been a couple weeks since Iwaizumi and Oikawa agreed to get to know each other more. And despite agreeing to know each other more, they hadn’t been able to see each other more. 

It was mid-term season for them and they’ve been stuck on studying for their exams. And despite being very busy in their studies, they still texted each other and Oikawa started to show up at the bar to flirt with Iwaizumi, as much as he had told him not to. 

“Do you know why I come to see you here?” Oikawa asks, stirring his drink with his straw. 

“To make my life a living hell, Shittykawa?” Iwaizumi grumbles under his breath as he’s wiping down the bar. 

“I hate it when you call me that,” he whines, taking a sip from his drink. “But really, it’s because here you have no choice but to be nice to me. I can flirt all I want and you have no choice but to just sit there and take it,” Oikawa coos, smiling with the straw between his lips. 

“Akaashi, I have a customer harassing me,” Iwaizumi calls. 

“Hey! Hold on, wait!” Oikawa calls after him. 

They agreed to meet each other at Kuroo’s place. Oikawa was very excited to dress up and prove he had the best costume. Oikawa had told him to dress up too, but Iwaizumi refused.

“You’re such a buzzkill, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa whines. “Fine, whatever! You don’t have to dress up, but if you want to... I dunno, somewhat match with me, you can... wear something nice. Like almost suit and tie kind of nice.”

Iwaizumi was not going to go with Oikawa’s whims. He didn’t want to follow through with them. Iwaizumi figured the least he could do was wear a nice button-up and a tie. Still, he was already expecting something dumb and absurd from Oikawa. 

And when Iwaizumi showed up at Kuroo’s place, he wanted to turn around and leave when he found Oikawa. 

“Iwa-chan~!”

“Are you fucking kidding, Shittykawa? A maid outfit!” Iwaizumi exclaimed. 

“Yeah!” Oikawa says, spinning in his frilly skirt. “Miss me with that toxic masculinity shit— real masculinity is wearing a skirt, painting your nails, rocking that shit and looking _great_ in it. C’mon, Iwa-chan, don’t I look like a cute little maid?” He asks. 

It was the whole nine yards: a black and white maid dress with a heart window on his chest. He had white satin gloves that went up to his elbows, fishnet stockings that were hidden by the skirt of his dress, and a frilly bonnet in his hair. 

Iwaizumi hated to say it, but... Oikawa looked... he looked...

“What the hell are you wearing, Oikawa?” Kuroo asks. 

“A bomb ass outfit, that’s what Tetsu-chan,” Oikawa exclaims, before he looks over at Iwaizumi. “Well, Iwa-chan?” He asks, his voice pitching in a way that Iwaizumi could tell he’s smiling under his mask. 

He was annoying attractive. And extremely enticing. 

“You look dumb,” Iwaizumi mutters before turning around and going towards the kitchen to fix himself a drink. He heard Oikawa squawk behind him, but he ignored him. 

Iwaizumi tried to spend the rest of the night trying to avoid Oikawa. Oikawa kept trying to get Iwaizumi, but he just kept dodging him. He tried to interact with everyone else, anyone else, to avoid Oikawa. 

Kageyama was dressed up as a vampire with a top hat and a cape. Hinata was wearing a white sheet with holes cut for his eyes. Kenma was dressed up as a calico cat, with oversized cat gloves and slippers, but he was very evasive. Kuroo had a cat ear headband and a mask with whiskers on it. Asahi, he thinks, was dressed as Frankenstein. Akaashi was dressed up as a Hooters boy? Bokuto was also wearing a sheet over him but in comparison to Hinata, he was wearing sunglasses. 

Everyone else’s costumes were decent. They were modest, maybe even playful. And then he looks at Oikawa, who was a stupid sexy maid. How.. how does he handle something like that?

“Iwaizumi, what are you supposed to be?” Kuroo asks. 

“Oh! He’s supposed to be the master and I’m the pretty little maid!” Oikawa answers, putting a hand on Iwaizumi’s chest as he completely coming out of nowhere. 

Kuroo snickers. “Is that so?” 

Iwaizumi blushes. “Don’t say stupid stuff, Shittykawa,” he says, turning and trying to lose himself in the crowd again, but Oikawa grabs onto his sleeve and tags along. 

“You’re not escaping me this time,” Oikawa sings quietly, as he waves at Kuroo. 

“Let me go,” he mutters, trying to shake him off, but Oikawa grips him harder and actually wraps a hand around his wrist and drags him further into the apartment. “Oi-Oikawa, what are you doing?” Iwaizumi asks when he’s being dragged down the hall and into an unfamiliar bedroom. 

Oikawa remains silent until the door is closed behind them and he’s got Iwaizumi pressed against the door, a finger pointed at his chest. 

“You’ve been avoiding me all night. Why?” Oikawa asks, tugging his mask off to show his displeasure. 

Iwaizumi’s heart rises to his throat. The room was otherwise dark aside from LED light strips that were placed along the ceiling and were pulsing between the primary colors. He hoped that with this dim of light, Oikawa couldn’t see his blush. 

“I haven’t been avoiding you.”

“That’s bullshit,” Oikawa replies. “Ever since you got here, you’ve been avoiding me all night. All night and...” Oikawa’s voice trails off and he brings his hand down from Iwaizumi’s chest. “And I’m hurt. We agreed to be here together, I haven’t seen you outside of work in a while, and I just wanted to have a good time with you, but... you’re just avoiding me.”

Iwaizumi sighs, removing his mask. “Oikawa—“

“—I mean, this party is for fun, you know? I know we’re between friends and all, and I just thought that wearing a maid dress would be a funny joke.”

“Oikawa—“

“—But if it really bothers you that much, I guess we might have to start seeing other people, because—“

“Tooru, can you please shut up for three seconds?” Iwaizumi asked in exasperation. Oikawa’s mouth shut and he took a step back, his arms hugging himself protectively. 

“All I’m saying that if you won’t appreciate me in a maid outfit, then I deserve better,” Oikawa mumbles. 

“You’re so annoying,” Iwaizumi sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

“Am I? Am I that annoying that you have to avoid me all night? Are you that bothered and what, I guess, ashamed of me that you have to dodge me all—“

Oikawa wouldn’t shut up, he wouldn’t stop his tirade of questions. Alcohol always made Oikawa ramble and the only way to get him to shut up was by giving him food or another drink. There was neither here. So, Iwaizumi did the next best option. 

He grabs Oikawa’s chin and pulls him in for a kiss.

➳

All Oikawa wanted was to have a good night with Iwaizumi. There hadn’t been a moment where they had been able to meet aside for that one weekend for coffee. 

Life has been pretty busy for the both of them, between mid-terms and Iwaizumi working more shifts. The beauty of knowing where he worked and it being so close to where he lived, let him pop in every once in a while. It was partly to see that different work persona — which wasn’t all that different, by the way — and flirt with him without having to be insulted. 

It was their banter. Iwaizumi was mean, but Oikawa knew he didn’t mean it. Oikawa whined and Iwaizumi smirked, and even though he was mean and was a bully, Iwaizumi always knew when to play and when not to. Oikawa has had his nights and Iwaizumi makes sure to take care of him when he does. 

Oikawa was going to admit it — he liked Iwaizumi. He really liked him, his work ethic, and his passion for his studies was admirable. He couldn’t stop staring at him while he was working. His personality and the way they just automatically clicked.

So all Oikawa wanted was one weekend together. When Kuroo sent his invitation texts, Oikawa immediately texted Iwaizumi.

Oikawa: Iwa-chan

Iwaizumi: No

Oikawa: you don’t even know what I’m going to ask

Iwaizumi: I just got the text too. No.

Oikawa: but Iwa-chan plEASE

Oikawa: we haven’t been able to hang out

Oikawa: and I... I miss hanging out with you

Iwaizumi: ....

Iwaizumi: Fine

There were a lot of options that Oikawa could dress up as, but nothing called out to him more than the maid outfit did. Oikawa was flashy and what would bring more attention than being in a dress? 

Oikawa never did anything half-assed, so he went for the whole look. Kuroo burst into cackles when he saw Oikawa come in. Kageyama, despite having a painted face, seemed to redden, while Hinata just exclaimed how good Oikawa looked. 

Oikawa couldn’t wait until Iwaizumi arrived to show his costume off. And when he came, Oikawa’s heart fluttered. He was in all black, a button-up shirt with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a tie. When they met eyes, Iwaizumi gave him a once over and his eyes widened. Oikawa was proud of the reaction he got from Iwaizumi, but shortly after, he couldn’t catch him. 

Iwaizumi kept slipping out of his grasp. They had been here for at least two hours now, and Oikawa was starting to get annoyed. Annoyed, irritated, and in the smallest recesses of his mind, self-conscious. 

Did... Did he go too far? Was his costume was too much? It was supposed to be funny, but now he’s being avoided. Was it too flashy? Was it too revealing? Did Iwaizumi feel embarrassed or shame being seen next to him? Was this crossing the line between them?

When Oikawa finally cornered Iwaizumi, his heart was aching for him, whispering the fear of rejection. 

Oikawa was always dumped in high school for his love of volleyball. College was just the same until he tore his ACL, then after that, he dedicated himself to his studies and didn’t even consider dating. Sure, he was still interested in messing around and having a one night stand, but anything after that, he was disinterested. 

But he was interested in Iwaizumi Hajime. And Oikawa was _so_ interested, so invested in getting to know him, falling head over heels for him, and now the possibility of losing him, being alone? He didn’t know if he could handle the prospect of being alone now. 

So here he was, putting on a brave front in a foreign bedroom with pulsing LED lights, spilling out his insecurities. Spilling his heart out to someone who he might have scared away. Spilling his soul out to someone who probably wasn’t interested in him anymore because of something he thought would be funny. 

But he was wrong. He was proven wrong by a kiss. 

There was a feeling so electric, so numbing at the same time. It felt extraordinary, but so natural at the same time. It felt perfect in every way that it could be.

Oikawa pulled away before he could melt into it. He takes a step back and he brings his hand to his lips, his breath stolen from him. “W-What... what are you doing?” He asks. Even with the lights, he couldn’t read Iwaizumi’s expression. 

“You’re such an idiot,” he mutters. 

Oikawa’s heart drops. “I-Iwa-chan,” he murmurs. 

“You really think I’m avoiding you because I’m embarrassed?” He asks, running his hand through his hair. “I’m avoiding you because you’re so damn... That stupid skirt and the fishnet stockings? Are you kidding me? Do you know how hard it was to hold back from just pinning you against a wall?”

Oikawa stammered, looking down at his skirt and then his stockings before looking back at Iwaizumi. “You... You weren’t avoiding me because you were embarrassed?”

“No, you idiot,” Iwaizumi says, pulling Oikawa closer by the waist. “You’re so annoyingly attractive and all I want to do is undress you.”

Oikawa gapes for a moment as he’s pulled closer and he puts his hands to Iwaizumi’s shoulders. “That’s awfully forward of you, Iwa-chan,” he coos. 

“Shut up,” he mutters before reconnecting their lips again. 

This time, Oikawa lets himself melt into the kiss, humming softly into it. Oikawa feels Iwaizumi’s tongue swipe against his bottom lip and he parts his lips, the new warmth making him weak at the knees. The taste of alcohol is there, which is unfortunate but nevertheless, the kiss was marvelous. Iwaizumi’s hands pull Oikawa pressed against him, and once they’re pressed against each other, one of Iwazumi’s hands cups Oikawa’s cheek, deepening the kiss. The kiss continued as long as their breaths would take them. Iwaizumi breaks from the kiss and he trails kisses along Oikawa’s jaw and down his neck. 

“Iwa-chan,” Oikawa sighs, leaning his head to the side as he allows him more room. Every kiss set his skin alight and a fire burned lower in his stomach. His knees were becoming weak and Iwaizumi could tell. Iwaizumi starts taking slow steps, pushing Oikawa back until his legs bumped into something and he fell back, sitting on a plush bed. With the comfort of a bed beneath him, he lays back, spreads his legs far enough that the skirt of his dress sagged between them, and extends his arms out to Iwaizumi. 

“Why don’t you come show me how badly you want to undress me?” Oikawa asks between small pants. Iwaizumi’s already fitting himself between Oikawa’s open legs, his hands working at pulling one of the gloves from his one of his arms. 

One of the gloves came off and Oikawa cupped Iwaizumi’s face. Iwaizumi leaned into his hand, kissing the bottom of his palm, his wrist. Oikawa could melt under his attention. Iwaizumi brought a hand under one of Oikawa’s knees, lifting it slightly before placing his knee on the bed and setting Oikawa’s leg over his. Oikawa could tell that he was going for the position that had them with as much contact as they could, and Oikawa was desperate for more, tugging Iwaizumi down for more kisses.

One hand was already hiking up Oikawa’s skirt when there was a click and three computer monitors lit up on the other side of the bedroom. The two of them look over and the gaming chair in front of all three monitors slowly turns, revealing a curled up Kenma. 

“I didn’t know when was the right time, but I realized that I would really prefer you two to not fuck on mine and Kuroo’s bed.” He says. 

“Pudding-chan!” 

“Kenma!”

The two of them scramble to get off and adjust their clothing, glancing over at each other before looking at Kenma. 

“S-Sorry, Pudding-chan,” Oikawa says, putting his hands together. 

“My bad, Kenma,” Iwaizumi mutters. 

“I don’t want to watch this transpire,” Kenma says, turning in his chair to face his monitors. 

Oikawa and Iwaizumi share a look before Iwaizumi takes Oikawa’s hand and leads them out of the room and officially out of the party. 

➳

A couple of years pass and wearing masks in a day to day routine had become a thing of the past. 

Iwaizumi was a personal trainer for the national Tokyo team. Oikawa had become a high school literature teacher for first years at his old high school. They had their own little apartment in the outskirts of town and Iwaizumi was missing half the time due to having to travel with the team. Oikawa didn’t mind it as long as he brought souvenirs and was allowed to tag along when he had school breaks. 

Iwaizumi come home early this time when class was still in session. Class was almost over so Iwaizumi decided to swing by the school on the way home. He went to the staff room, but the other teachers told him he hadn’t stopped in, so he must have been in the classroom. Iwaizumi heads to the classroom. 

When Iwaizumi gets to the classroom, he’s sitting on the edge of his desk, nodding at a student who was talking with him. The student was a male and was stammering slightly, holding a letter in his hands and offering it Oikawa with a bowed head. Iwaizumi knew what that was. It was a confession. 

Iwaizumi leans in the door frame and knocks on the door and they both looked to the door, Oikawa brightening when he sees Iwaizumi. 

“Iwa-chan!” He greets before looking at the student. “I appreciate the gesture but unfortunately, my heart belongs to someone else,” he says, flashing his left hand at the student. 

“Unfortunately?” Iwaizumi questions from the doorway, crossing his arms against his chest. 

The student looks at the ring on Oikawa’s finger before his eyes went to Iwaizumi’s. Iwaizumi, seeing his gaze, shows his left hand too, finding a matching band. “Oh,” he says quietly. 

“I appreciate your feelings, but I have to decline. Thank you for being open with me though,” Oikawa says, standing. 

The boy bows and he turns, bows to Iwaizumi on his way out the classroom before rushing down the hall. 

“Oh, how I hate breaking hearts,” Oikawa sighs, standing from his desk and grabbing his portfolio. “I hate seeing their little hearts break.”

Iwaizumi watches him while he gathers his things and saunters to meet him at the door. “Unfortunately, huh?” He asks. 

Oikawa looks at him. “Unfortunately for them, not me,” he coos, leaning over to kiss Iwaizumi on the lips. Iwaizumi doesn’t move, humming softly, not even reciprocating the kiss. Oikawa pulls away. “What?”

“You’re still as a horrible person as ever, Shittykawa,” Iwaizumi says. 

Oikawa’s jaw drops. “That’s the first thing you say to me after being away for so many months?”

“I was only gone for two weeks, stop being a drama queen,” Iwaizumi replies. 

“Ugh, you’re still as rude as ever,” Oikawa mutters with a roll of his eyes and he’s pushing away at Iwaizumi. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Iwaizumi sings, grabbing at Oikawa’s waist and pulling him in for a kiss. “You know you like it when I’m mean to you,” he whispers after a small kiss. 

Oikawa hums into the kiss. “Maybe I do, maybe I don’t,” he replies, going in for another kiss. 

“If you really want me to be mean, I can bring back our social distancing guidelines,” Iwaizumi says, already pushing away at Oikawa’s hips. 

“Noo, I was kidding, I’m sorry,” he whines, pulling Iwaizumi closer. 

Iwaizumi smirks and pulls Oikawa in for a deeper kiss. “Alright, let’s go home.”

**Author's Note:**

> It was Oikawa being in a maid dress for Halloween for me


End file.
